Krystal Ball: Bloggers who posted my photos are 'sexist and wrong'

By Rachel Weiner
Krystal Ball, a Democratic congressional candidate in in Virginia, is accusing political operatives of orchestrating an attack on her this week by publicizing sexually suggestive photos of her taken years ago at a gag party.

The photos depict Ball and her ex-husband posing with a sex toy at a party that she says took place shortly after college. They were posted on two Republican blogs -- Black Velvet Bruce Li and Virginia Vertucon -- before spreading around the Internet. Ball said she doesn't know how the blogs got the photos, which as far as she knew had never been posted online.

Ball initially accused her Republican opponent, Rep. Rob Wittman, of releasing them as part of a smear campaign. Wittman's spokesman said in a statement Tuesday night that Wittman is "adamantly opposed" to the release of the photos, and that he has asked bloggers to take down the pics.

Ball said Wittman's request came "hours after the damage had been done."

The district has been Republican for decades, and Ball's campaign received little national attention until now.

"It's sexist and it's wrong, regardless of political party," Ball, 28, said in a statement. "And I have a message for any young woman who is thinking about running for office and has ever attended a costume party with her husband or done anything stupid on camera. Run for office. Fight for this country. Don't let this sort of tactic deter you."

"Of course, I am embarrassed by these photos, that was the whole point of these political operatives when they put them up," she said. "But more than just embarrassed, I'm angry! I'm angry that when we are suffering from high unemployment, record budget deficits and a broken education system, that crass political operatives will resort to the politics of personal destruction when they can't talk about the issues."

Ball also said there was a double standard for women, pointing out that Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) posed naked in Cosmopolitan magazine without facing the same scrutiny. She added that she thought Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell had experience a "similar smearing," even though she disagreed with their political views.

The Post wrote about Ball in May:

Running as "a fresh voice for Virginia," Ball has been the presumptive nominee to take on Wittman since the other Democrat in the contest, Scott Robinson, dropped out in late March. Democrats in the 1st district -- which stretches from Fauquier County south past Williamsburg to Poquoson on the Chesapeake Bay -- officially handed Ball the nomination at their local convention this weekend.

Ball, 28, runs an educational software company with her husband and has never been a candidate for political office before. For a novice, her fundraising has been prolific: As of April 18, Ball had raised $521,000 (including $76,000 in personal loans to her campaign) and had $134,000 in the bank.

[...]

As for Krystal Ball's distinctive name, InsideNoVa.com explains it thusly: "Her father has a doctorate in physics and did his dissertation on crystals. So after her mother named older sisters Heidi and Holly, it was dad's turn."

I think there is a difference between pictures taken at a costume party and holding O'Donnell accountable for political statements she chose to make in public, on TV, as a political activist, about premarital sex, China, evolution, and scientific experiments (mice with human brains?). We are entitled to consider her views when considering her, and her claims that they are irrelevant are incorrect. But whether she went on a date fresh out of college with a warlock, I care not. Similarly, Palin was criticized for what she said on national television while running for Vice President. That too is fair game.

I recently heard a pundit say we've become tribalized in this country. Everyone has to pick a political side...it wasn't that way until recently...the rhetoric and crap like this is the reason for grid lock in Washington and every state capitol.

I only wish our society wasn't so puritanical in addition to becoming tribal. Sex is dirty...except on evening TV when the kids are watching. I'm sure there were more than a few moms and dads who had some splaining to do after this non-news story ran at dinnertime.

But my tribe has to find whatever way we can to discredit your tribe...afterall we need to control the grid lock...what better way than the perceived most scandalous issue...sex?

Possibly as conseervative as they come, I think the photos being used as they are is deplorable just as I thought the attacks on Sarah Palin, Christine O Donnell, etc were deplorable. Unfortunately, folks from both sides use these attacks while attempting to influence elections.

Good for her for addressing it publicly and not apologizing for the photos. And shame on the slimeballs who tried to embarrass her - some people will resort to anything. Ball redirected attention towards her campaign and the issues and really stood up for herself. She'd get my vote.

Good for her for addressing it publicly and not apologizing for the photos. And shame on the slimeballs who tried to embarrass her - some people will resort to anything. Ball redirected attention towards her campaign and the issues and really stood up for herself. She'd get my vote.

blaismic, that's true, people did make a big deal out of it but they were too late because the Republicans kept him on the down-low and blindsided the Democrats before they could do a character assassination like they did with Sarah Palin. That was a GREAT move. Still, he set the new standard....nudes allowed, heh, heh...

Hello! That's true that it is a double standard that Scott Brown can pose nude and get elected to Congress but if a woman dares have any nudes, like she said, (not just a costume but nude pictures), it does NOT mean you can't run for office or fight what you believe in. Women's sexuality is just one aspect of their person and men have this same aspect and still get taken seriously. Most women, if they do have nudes, have them because some man BEGGED for them! The body is not a bad thing, especially not Scott Browns!

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